FOUND: Wellingborough’s mystery stray dog had been missing from Sheffield for months

Stephanie Weaver

The mystery stray spotted in Wellingborough in recent weeks has been caught and will soon be on his way home to Sheffield - more than 100 miles away!

Tyson, a labrador cross, vanished shortly after he was dropped off at a foster carer’s house in Charnock, Sheffield, on November 23.

But he escaped after jumping over a 7ft gate soon after arriving at his foster carer’s house, leading to a huge search in the city.

Facebook groups were set up by volunteers who investigated sightings, mapped his movements and searched for him but he had vanished.

Unbeknown to them, a similar search campaign was launched in Wellingborough in February after the dog was spotted at numerous locations across the town.

Geraldine Guy set up a Facebook page appealing for details of any sightings of the dog in a bid to try and catch him.

And more than four months after and more than 100 miles away from home, the dog was caught in a basketball court in Wellingborough last night (Tuesday) and his microchip led to him being identified as Tyson.

Keeley Marples, one of the volunteers who helped search for Tyson in Sheffield, said he is due back in Sheffield today and will be placed in foster care until plans for his future are worked out.

Speaking to our sister paper The Sheffield Star, Keeley said: “We want to thank everyone for all their efforts in looking for Tyson.

“The way everyone pulled together was absolutely amazing.

“We think he must have walked all that way to Wellingborough because he has sore paws but with the amount of ground he covered when he first went missing in Sheffield it is more than possible for him to have gone that far.

“There were no positive sightings in Sheffield after January 6 but people still searched for him.

“We are really glad that he was microchipped so that he could be identified.”

‎Geraldine Guy‎ posted on the Wellingborough Stray Dog Facebook page this morning and said: “Our Wellingborough stray has a name and has been missing since November from Sheffield.

“How he arrived in our neck of the woods will no doubt remain a mystery but Tyson is safe and will be reunited soon.

“I would just like to say thank you so much to the people of Wellingborough for supporting us and helping track this boy down, we couldn’t have done it without you.”

She also thanked numerous people who had been involved in the search, including Andy Tippins, Lisa Phipps, the local dog warden, Gary Craig who managed to trap Tyson last night, Liz Quinn, Darren Orton who has been tracking with her since the first sighting and Frances McGrath from FAB RESCUE.

And Geraldine added: “It’s been a manic morning but very worthwhile.

“It’s amazing what can be achieved when everyone pulls together, thank you from the bottom of my heart.”